Paddling the Clack

Kate's behind the camera. Phil Hadley, John Walpole, Jen Kleck, and Paul Kuthe at the put-in

I should have been responsible. I should have started my long trip home on Sunday night, or Monday morning at the latest. Instead, I went paddling on the Clackamas River with John Walpole, Paul, Kate, and Phil.

Phil's world is a happy place.

John and his wife Kirti put me and Phil up in their beautiful house near Portland, OR Sunday and Monday nights. They claim it has a great view of Mount Hood and a wall full of big windows makes me think this is possible, but the clouds never lifted enough to know for sure. At least it wasn't raining when we got our leisurely start to the day and headed to the river. Paul and Kate met us there with a truck full of kayaks and off we went.

Phil showing us a nice line down this one.

We paddled several miles of scenic river with lots of little class I-II riffles and regularly spaced class III drops. It's late season, the snow pack is mostly gone, and the river was low so it was pretty friendly and one really only had to keep a sharp eye out for rocks. This was a good thing for me since I've only had a couple of river days in the last year! It was a treat to paddle a new river in the excellent company of some very fine boaters - thanks guys!

John "whirlpool" Walpole shredding up a wave

LoCo Roundup and BCU re-education

The Kayak Farm....known as Slow Boat Farm on Puget Island, WA in the middle of the Columbia River


I've just returned home from a fantastic week in WA state on the Columbia River with a great gang of kayak coaches and students. The week was hosted by Ginni Callahan and her crew at her "Slow Boat Farm" on Puget Island and life on the farm was sweet! The daily rhythm involved eating amazing, fresh foods from the garden, expertly prepared by Head Chef Dave, paddling whatever paddle craft your heart desired, eating more great food, evening presentations, games, discussions, music, campfires, and (of course) beer. Life was good. The "unseasonable" pouring rain only made everything cozy and added to the ambiance.

Head chef, Dave

For me it was a primarily a week of re-orientation to the new BCU scheme. About 20 BCU coaches were subjected to a 2 day update led by the fabulous Phil Hadley, poster child of the "New" BCU and shipped over straight from England. Enthusiastic, entertaining, and a bit of a salesman, Phil soon had us all eating out of his hand and utterly convinced of the genius of the new awards......or maybe there was just something in the water. I spent 3 more days working on and observing the new 4 Star award and got to paddle some fun spots at the mouth of the river. I managed to weasel out of most of my coaching responsibilities and sponge off of everyone else which was a real treat (sorry Ginni and thanks Axel!) and spent every possible moment in a canoe (thanks Phil) - even passing my 3 Star open canoe assessment. It was great to be able to work with so many coaches: Shawna, Leon, and Matt of Body Boat Blade, the Alder Creek crew including Karl Anderson, John Walpole, John Wallum, and Paul Kuthe, Bill Lozano, head of BCU NA, Rob Avery, and Phil Hadley just to name a few!
BCU endorsed by Phil Hadley


On Saturday I ran a long boat surf session on the coast. All week the storm had been kicking up some big waves, but on Saturday the locals read the swell forecast with glee -"6 feet at 9 seconds - it doesn't get much smaller than that up here!" This southern California girl was wondering what the heck we were going to do with that mess! We had fun though, and nobody got hurt. Someone might have even learned something!
Camp life - big tents kept us dry and provided a great gathering space


Sunday I drove to Seattle to pick up a few new kayaks. I have Nigel Foster's new Whiskey and an NDK Romany Surf available for demo now! But here's the "funny" twist to the story....I was sure I picked up 2 Whiskeys at the warehouse. They were bubble wrapped, but the same length, the right colors, the right shape - I really didn't stop to ask. So this morning, after being on the road for 26 hours, I stagger to bed at 5am. Jake is up at 6:30 to go out with the Wed. morning crowd and asks which Whiskey can he put on the water. I tell him "the white one" and I'm comatose again. At 8:30 when Jake returns, he gives me the bad news....."it's a nice boat, but it's not a Whiskey." %$&@.

I'm off to the Rough Water Sea Kayak Symposium on the east coast tomorrow morning sponsored by Tom Bergh of Maine Island Kayaks (http://www.maineislandkayak.com/).

Stand Up Paddleboards

Oh yeah, just a quick note regarding a new challenge....Aqua Adventures is now home to a bunch of stand-up paddleboards. It's a whole new perspective on the world and very fun. We're working on a lesson program and our demo fleet is already being well used. Jake, who does everything easily, started doing headstands on the boards by day 2. I'll try to post a photo of his technique soon - he doesn't have quite the finesse the Freya has, but I'm impressed! And yeah, he can do a headstand in a kayak too.

Columbia River Kayaking event Aug. 16-25

I'm driving up to Washington ths week for a kayak skills symposium and BCU week. You get to Level 5 and you think you can just take it easy for a while, but I'm back to being assessed! I'm going for my open canoe 3 *. I've really been enjoying canoeing - it's a fun new challenge and it's also made some things about kayaking (and paddlesports in general) very clear to me. I recommend it (but don't give up kayaking!). I also need to go through an update process so I can train and assess at the new 4 * level. There's a really great line up of coaches at the event and I'm looking forward to working with some new people as well as catching up with some old friends. Ginni Callahan runs an amazing operation and it will be fun to hang out at her farm on the Columbia River! www.columbiariverkayaking.com

I decided to drive so I can haul some kayaks back down with me. We'll have a few new NDK kayaks and a new design by Nigel Foster (Point 65 "Whiskey") by the end of August. Visit www.seakayakinguk.com and www.point65.com and come by the shop to try them out!

Busy summer

What a summer it's been! With all the talk of economic doom, I kept my staff very small this year - just half of what I had last year. Luckily, they are all great, hardworking, dedicated people and business has been strong. There's no real news to report regarding the summer, but lots of interesting things are coming up including Aqua Adventures' 20th anniversary on October 4! Leading up to that, it's going to get busy...Here's my confirmed schedule for the fall. I have a couple of tentative plans as well.
August 15-24
Columbia River Kayaking LoCo Roundup and BCU Week
www.columbiariverkayaking.com
August 29-31
Rough Water Kayak Symposium in Point Judith, RI
www.maineislandkayak.com/symposium.html
Sept. 25 -30
Photo shoot in San Diego and Baja
Oct. 4 Anniversary party!
Oct. 17-22
Sea Kayak Georgia BCU week
www.seakayakgeorgia.com
Oct. 24 - Nov. 2
Storm Gathering, Anglesey, Wales
www.edgeofadventure.co.uk/symposium.asp

I'll try to post a bit more often since there's fun stuff happening again!

Venice!

On Sunday, May 11, Nigel, Kristine, Giorgio, and I paddled the Vogalonga – definitely a “life-time” experience that I will never forget! We kayaked almost 20 miles among an incredible assortment of human-powered craft through one on the most beautiful cities in the world and I would highly recommend it!

The Vogalonga is an annual event in Venice that began spontaneously in 1974 when a group of Venitians decided to protest the every increasing dominance of power boats in the canals and the surrounding lagoon, and to remind Venice of it’s rowing traditions. Power boats on the canals are not only dangerous, loud, and smelly, they create significant wakes which are slowly undermining sediment and foundations and are destroying the city. Once a year, for the last 34 years, the canals have been closed to power boat traffic and thousands of rowers in all forms take to the lagoon. This year there were about 1600 boats, and almost 6000 rowers. The event is non-competetive, although some take it seriously. There are no awards other than the “diploma” and medal that everyone gets at the end and the memories and images of a life time!

We got up early to get to Venice ahead of the crowds and find a parking place close to the water. This left us with a leisurely paddle to the starting line in front of Saint Marks Square. The number of kayaks, canoes, row boats, dragon boats, and traditional Venitian boats putting on the water was staggering. We followed a beautiful canal towards the heart of the city and stopped for an espresso along the way. We kept running into people we knew – mostly Giorgio, but all of us. All the things I remember about Venice when we visited as a teenager still fascinated me: the windows and shutters, the carvings on the facades, the rotting bottoms of huge carved doors that opened onto the canals, the light and shadows in canals, and people going about normal, everyday life in this most unusual city!

At Saint Marks, the sheer number of boats on the water was impressive, although they were very spread out and photographs can’t portray the feelings and sights. We paddled under the “Bridge of Sighs” which prisoners crossed after being declared guilty in the courts.

A huge canyon fired and we were off! Well, not really. Like I said, it’s non-competetive and in typical Italian fashion, we took our time. The participants must have spread out for many miles, but the boats within our area became familiar. There was an enormous red rowing vessel rowed by about 20 people that Giorgio called the “wine” boat because it was sponsored by a winery. My favorite boat was one of the traditional vessels rowed by standing. I’ve included a photo because the couple rowing and the boat were just so elegant! In Burano, our group had grown a bit with friends of Giorgio’s and we paddled up a tiny canal for a cup of cappuccino. Every family on Burano paints their house a different color so it is a colorful place! The course took us through Murano, known for it’s glassworks, and then across the lagoon back to Venice and down the Grand Canal. At the entrance to the canal, a huge bottle-neck was created by the narrow low bridge. Only one rowing shell at a time could pass, but with 1600 boats to get through, things were a bit crazy. Luckily, it was easier to sneak through in a kayak. My camera battery died just then and so I was camera-less for the whole of the Grand Canal which was disappointing as the sights were fantastic! All the cafes along the canal were full of people and many cheered us on. I was dying to explore the little canals, some only meters wide that intersected the Grand Canal. Separated from the others at the bottleneck, I was paddling with Rene and he took me on a detour through some of the smaller canals and past two Gondola boatyards, one of which has been in the same family since the 1600s.

By the time we returned to the Grand Canal, it was past 2:30 and the power boats had returned. Every block or two is a “bus” stop and the water buses were working their routes in full force. It was chaotic and a bit frightening and I quickly realized why kayaking in Venice is not a popular pastime on most days! How lucky we were to get to experience it as it was years ago, before giant “water buses” and fast taxi boats took over. The water was quite lumpy from wakes and it was easy to see how damaging to fragile foundations and delicate sediment the relentless waves could be. We made it to the finish line and officials dropped “diplomas” and medals into our hands from their stand at the waters edge and it was over. We had to make our way back a short distance along the Grand Canal dodging giant buses and trying to guess which way gondoliers were going to go. Even the secondary canal that we followed to the car park, which had been so idyllic in the morning, was now a tight squeeze between power boats, gondolas, and kayaks – very exciting and fun. I didn’t even mind getting yelled at by a power boat driver (or two). Having no idea what they were yelling about, I just grinned and moved closer to the walls!

I’ve got to run to class, but I’ll post again tonight – we’re currently in a lovely resort on the Adriatic not far from Venice….

Anglesey

Lots to update and not much time....

Anglesey was awesome as usual. The tide races were fun and the weather was excellent. The last place you want to take out your camera is in the middle of a big tide race, so the photos don't do it justice! There were some big waves, and I was rusty! Need to come back more often!!!

All the old friends were there including Rowland Woollven who stopped on his circumnavigation of Britain.

I went to Nigel Dennis' factory a couple of times and got to see a customer's kayak ready for shipment. Also saw the kayaks being built for "The Vacation to Hell" this summer as well as the NEW Plastic Romany which I hope to have in stock in the next month or so!